Northwick Park Hospital is a major NHS hospital situated in Harrow, North West London, managed by the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust.
Steam leakage from undercrofts
The lifts within the hospital are connected to the fire alarm. As a fire safety precaution, a fire event will send a signal to the lifts to travel to ground level. This will also happen when a false fire event triggers the alarm.
A series of six sub-terranean undercrofts are used for service distribution, including steam. Steam is a common cause of unwanted fire alarm activations, as it has characteristics of a real fire. Steam is distributed using pipes, which transfer the steam at high pressure. There is always the possibility that leaks will occur, which is what began to happen at Northwick Park Hospital.
When detection in the undercrofts activated following a steam leak, it was extremely difficult to determine exactly where this was happening, creating long delays and the critical lifts remained grounded.
Critical alarm management software
AMX is used to centralize & distribute critical alarms from multiple systems, including fire alarms
For many years, Drax 360 has been developing a specialist critical alarm management software solution, AMX. AMX is used to centralize & distribute critical alarms from multiple systems, including fire alarms.
Using AMX, the engineers were able to create maps of the six undercrofts, overlaying the position of all the fire detection equipment. Interfacing this with the fire alarm system(s), it was possible to program AMX to raise a detailed alarm in three locations.
Audible with an automatic floor map
The alarms are audible, have detailed text, and provide automatic floorplan/map pop-ups. This ensures that everyone viewing the alarm event has a full understanding of what has activated, and crucially, where it has activated.
Using the graphical interface, Northwick Park Hospital engineers can rapidly investigate the event. Custom buttons were added to AMX, and following confirmation of a false alarm, AMX is used to disable the device, allowing the lift to be used once more.
Improved patient safety
Although rare, fire alarms activated due to steam leaks had the potential to disrupt the designated COVID-19 patient pathway
Patient safety is paramount to Northwick Park Hospital staff. The implemented solution ensured that COVID-19 patients could be safely transferred, via a specific route (and lift).
Without this in place, there was a real risk that patients would either be seriously delayed in their transfer or would have to be taken via a different route, putting other patients and staff at risk.
Reduced risk of steam leaks
“Although rare, fire alarms activated due to steam leaks had the potential to disrupt the designated COVID-19 patient pathway. This was already on our risk register, but due to the requirement to have specific routes and lifts to ensure we kept COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients separated the risk level increased.”
“We approached Drax 360, our incumbent contractor, for a solution. What they have provided has reduced the risk considerably and gives us scope to incorporate additional cause and effects for other scenarios going forward,” said John O’Keefe Head of Operational Estates.